Adjustable tent roof support



K. H. BURGlN 3,259,140

July 5, 1966 ADJUSTABLE TENT ROOF SUPPORT Filed July 27, 1964 1F|Er.\

IINVENTUR KERMIT H. BUREIN United States Patent Oli ice 3,259,140 Patented July 5, 1966 3,259,140 ADJUSTABLE TENT RQF SUPPGRT Kermit H. Burgin, RR. 1, Whitestown, Ind. Filed July 27, 1964, Ser. No. 385,345 1 Claim. (Cl. 13S-1) This invention relates to means for supporting the roof of a tent under varying conditions of heat and cold, and primarily under conditions of moisture and dryness. The tent roof is made out of a fabric which is water repellent but in most cases will shrink under rain striking the top of the tent or will stretch when there is sunshine thereon. Under these conditions, the tent roof will shrink and stretch. When the roof stretches, it will sag considerably.

The primary object of the invention is to provide means for supporting the fabric roof in an adjustable manner whereby the center of the roof may be adjustably kept in a taut condition.

This structure is in cooperation with the poles of the y tent at the corners thereof all without having to use a center pole.

These and many other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those versed in the art from the following description made in connection with the drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a top fragmentary view of a tent employing the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in section on the line 2-2 in FIG. l, taken diagonally across the tent;

FIG. 3 is la view in bottom plan of a central rigid member on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a view also on an enlarged scale and section on the line 4*4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view in section on a line 5 5 in FIG. 2.

The invention is applied particularly to a rectangular tent which is generally designated by the numeral which is made out of the usual flexible fabric employed in tents, either a thick material or some of the synthetic liber materials. In any event, it comprises sidewalls 11 and a fabric top or roof 12. The lcorners of the tent `10 are dened by poles 13, one at each corner of the tent and positioned on the inside thereof. Normally, these poles 13 will each have a pin 14 at their top ends which will pass through the roof 12 adjacent its juncture with the sides 11.

A center plate 15 is formed to have a generally circular shape, FIG. 3. From the underside of the plate 15, there extends four pairs of wings, these wings being equally spaced apart on a center line approximately 90 degrees one from the other. Referring to FIG. 3, there are the wings 16, 17 in one pair; 18, 19 in a second pair, 20, 21; in a third pair and 22, 24 in the fourth pair. A rib 25 is hinged to the plate 15 by being carried between one pair of ribs as the ribs 22, 24 in FIG. 4, by a pin which may be of any desirable shape, herein shown as comprising a cotter pin 26a.

In the same manner, ribs 26, 27 and 28, are hingedly carried by each of the other pairs of wings. The top side of the plate 15 has a vertically extending pin 29 which extends through a grommet 30 provided at the center of the top 12.

Each of these ribs 25, 26, 27 and v2S have a forked end formation 31 straddling a pole 13, FIG. 2. By means of this construction, the center of the top 10 at the pin 29 may be raised to bring the top 12 in a taut condition by sliding the forked portion 31 upwardly of the pole 13. Should the top 12 tend to sag between the pin 29 and the side walls, then the ribs may have their forked ends pushed upwardly along pole 13 thus lifting the plate 15 to in turn lift the central zone of the top 12.

In order to keep the forked ends 31 from sliding downwardly along the poles 13, a suitable securing means is provided, and shown as a collar 32 slidable up and down the pole 13 in each instance, and secured under the forked end 31 by any suitable means such as by a thumb screw 33 passing through the collar and abutting the side of the pole 13.

Normally in erecting the tent 10, the corner pole 13 will be positioned inside the tent, and guide-ropes (not shown) will be secured to the upper ends 14 so as to hold the walls 11 in erect position. After that, the operator may step inside the tent through the use of opening as at 34, and then place plate 15 against the center zone of the roof 12 inserting the pin 29 through the grommet 30, and lifting the ribs 25, 26, 27 and 2S and slide the forked ends upwardly along the pole 13, securing the collars 32 on the poles as above descirbed.

By reason of employment of the rigid plate 15 which is preferably made out of a suitable metal such as aluminum, the ribs, being pivoted between the pairs of Wings, are thus held against lateral rocking and extend from between those wings. This prevents a twisting action, such as the turning of the plate 15 would set up, and therefore when one rib is xed in position, the other ribs may in turn be likewise xed without diculty.

While I have herein shown and described my invention into one particular form, it is obvious that structural variations may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I therefore do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations which may be imposed by the following claim.

I claim:

A four sided wall tent comprising a flexible member dening the four side walls;

a exible roof inclined upwardly from said walls toward a central zone thereof and interconnected by its lowermost portion with the uppermost portion of the side Wall;

a plurality of posts at least as high as the height of said wall, each post being spaced from the others defining corners in said wall, the posts being inside of said wall;

said roof and wall interconnection being the sole means of interconnecting upper portions of said posts;

said roof being carried by the posts;

a center plate within the roof top central zone and having means engaging that zone and holding the plate against shifting therefrom;

pairs of spaced ribs radiating from the center, underside of the plate, each pair being directed generally one toward each of said posts; roof ribs extending between said plate and each post;

each roof rib entering by its upper end portion between the plate ribs of each pair and being rockably retained therebetween;

said roof ribs each having a length extending diagonally downwardly to each of said posts;

each of said roof ribs having means at its lower end portion slidingly engaging an upper portion of each post, the upward sliding of the lower roof rib ends causing said roof zone to be elevated; and

said plate ribs restraining the roof rib upper ends against lateral rocking.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 538,093 4/ 1895 Weston 13S-3 X 1,820,002 8/ 1931 Forrester 13S- 4 1,853,367 4/1932 Mace 13S-4 2,015,321 9/ 1935 Shelton 135-4 2,440,557 4/ 1948 Power 135--1 HARRISON R. MosELEY, Primary Examinar. L. I. SANTISI, A. I. BREIER, Assistant Examiners. 

